My name is Holly Claus, yes, that Claus, as in my great-grandfather is Santa Claus. See, Great-Gramps is old, thousands of years old, so old that even he doesn’t know how old he is. Great-Gramps came from a time when druids wandered the Earth and people could still communicate with animals, with trees; skills most humans have lost since forgotten. My Great-Great-Grandfather, may he rest in peace, was a man of such talents, and one day, he caught the heart of a wood-elf with whom he became instantly enthralled. That wood-elf became my Great-Great Grandmother.
Shortly after the wooing process, GreatGramps, “Santa,” was conceived and brought into this world. Although he doesn’t like to talk about them often, he always recalls them fondly, as if they were the kindest parents anyone could ask for, and I’d like to think they were. They were a happy family for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, being as nature kept Great-Great-Grandfather alive far beyond his time, even as many of the ancient and the dark things fell away or went into hiding all around them. It was when Great-Great-Grandfather had become too old for even nature to give him vitality, that was when he and my Great-Great-Grandmother decided to give their bodies back to the Earth.
Great-Gramps gave them his blessing, for he did not know what it was like to be so elderly, but he was heartbroken for a long time after their departure. He wandered the world, going from country to country, continent to continent, looking for others like him, others like his parents, but alas, he found nothing. They all seemed to have moved on or been killed.